Blackhawks reassign Marko Dano to Rockford

The Chicago Blackhawks reassigned forward Marko Dano to the AHL's Rockford IceHogs, the team announced. The move comes before the Hawks are set to host the Winnipeg Jets on Friday night at the United Center in the second game of a back-to-back. Last night, the team got crushed, 5-1, in Nashville.

Dano, 21, has played sparingly in recent weeks despite being one of the most talented young players in the organization. His last appearance came on December 3 against the Senators, an overtime game in which he played just 8:25 and failed to record a point.

That mixed performance has made it difficult for Dano to get any kind of extended playing time under Joel Quenneville, which is likely part of why he's being reassigned. There's little point to keeping one of the team's top prospects in the press box night after night hoping that Q will have a change of heart and give him a steady role soon. They might as well let him keep working at his game as a star for Rockford.

In 13 games with the Hawks this season, Dano has put up one goal and one assist with average ice time below 10 minutes. He was more productive during his previous stay in Rockford with eight points in nine games. Hopefully he can repeat that and get another call up soon.